Court case 4 ZB 23.1056 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2023)

The data subjects in this case are co-owners of a property with two residential units with a total of six residents. A water meter was installed inside their house in order to record the property's total water consumption. The calibration validity of the water meter expired in 2020. The controller is a municipal special purpose association that operates a public water supply system. The association committee decided in 2019 to replace installed analog water meters with electronic water meters equipped with radio modules - which can be read remotely. This should have taken place in 2021 as part of the regular exchange of water meters. The municipal special purpose association informed the complainants about the expiration of the calibration period and the intended replacement of the water meter. The data subjects denied access to their property and objected to the installation of an electronic water meter with a radio module, making reference to their right to objection under Article 21(1) GDPR. With a notice, the controller obliged the data subjects to grant one of his employees access to the water meter, stating that in case of non-fulfillment they would impose a fine. The controller submitted that, among others, the requirements for an objection under the GDPR were not given in this case. The data subjects, however, continued to refuse access to their property and filed a lawsuit against the controller's decision for violation of their fundamental and privacy rights. The Administrative Court Bayreuth (VG Bayreuth) held that the notice of the municipal special purpose association was based on the statutes governing the public water supply facility. The installation of electronic water meters did not violate their fundamental rights to informational self-determination or to inviolability of the home, included in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. It also did not violate the provisions of the GDPR. For these reasons, the VG dismissed the case. Co